Prosecutor’s office files charges against former law enforcement officer following ECHR verdict
The prosecutor’s office said it had already appealed to court for a preventive measure against the individual. Photo: prosecutor’s office
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The Georgian prosecutor general’s office on Monday said it had filed charges of abuse of power against a former law enforcement officer after the European Court of Human Rights confirmed ill treatment and flaws in the domestic investigation of a 2014 incident that saw police officers assault an individual in Tbilisi.
The body said it was filing the charges following the ECHR’s April ruling over the case of an individual who was stopped for alleged traffic violation by two police officers on New Year’s Eve and beaten after a verbal altercation.
It also said relevant Georgian agencies had taken responsibility to conduct a renewed and “more effective investigation” into the case, which in 2015 saw one of the two police officers convicted and the other dismissed from the force.
Following the recent investigation, the officer fired in the earlier judgement has been charged with abuse of power through use of force, a crime punishable by five to eight years in prison.
The prosecutor’s office said it had already appealed to court for a preventive measure against the individual and also noted it was “actively investigating a number of criminal cases” as part of judgements of the European court.
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